Yoga Decreases Work Stress

Yoga not only helps to relieve your daily emotional work stress but can also alleviate stress on your joints.

If you’re like me and spend a lot of time sitting at a desk staring at a computer, you might be developing some bad habits that could have serious long-term consequences. A post on examiner.com has some good tips for using principles of yoga during your workday so that you avoid developing lower-back problems, wrist injuries and sciatica. This doesn’t mean doing down dog in your cubicle, but simply paying attention to the way you are sitting. Are you slouched over? Are your shoulders raised? Are your legs crossed for long periods of time?

Here is a quick checklist from the article you can use to promote good habits at work:

Press your palms into the underneath of your desk, reprogramming your shoulders to relax on exhale.

Press the back of your hands together and shake out your wrists often while at the computer.

Breathe. Remember to stop every once in a while to take 3 long inhales, complemented with 3 deep exhales. (I have written “3 Breaths” on a sticky note, posted to my desk.) It will increase your productivity, lower your stress and remind you that you are alive and getting healthier with every conscious breath!

You might also want to consider swapping out your desk chair for an exercise ball. Sitting on a ball forces you to keep your back straight and maintain good posture. Just make sure you get a ball that is the right size for you. You want to be able to keep your feet flat on the floor while maintaining a 90-degree bend at your knees.

Katy Jones is the founder of Root to Rise Inc. of Oklahoma. Inspired by an online video about prison yoga she saw over a year ago on Facebook, Katy knew serving others through yoga was her calling. After attending a Prison Yoga Project training in LA, she brought yoga to her local prison in Oklahoma. Seeing […]

Suzanne Cary has practiced yoga for 12 years, having taught since 2008. She has taught yoga to trauma survivors at an orphanage in Cambodia and in Kenya with the African Yoga Project. She has taken outreach trainings with Off the Mat and Street Yoga. Suzanne also started a yoga program at a local shelter. In […]